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“That’s another reason why my dad agreed to the contract. I just wish he would have confided in me, not lied to me. Maybe I’m wrong. I just don’t know what to believe.”
“Stop thinking the worst about your father.” When she tried to look away, I could see tears in her eyes. I purposely grabbed her chin using just my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at me. “I mean it. We all have secrets and ugliness from our pasts but that doesn’t instantly make you a bad guy. Not that my ex bought it.” Having memories about the past wasn’t good for me. I’d learned that over the years, the images and thoughts turning me into one enraged man capable of doing almost anything.
“The one you saved?”
“She was more of a fuck buddy from a time when I wasn’t interested in a relationship and neither was she. When we parted ways, it was about a year and I fell in love with a girl I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. Stupid fucking fool I was. The girl I was ready to ask to marry me. She didn’t see my incarceration as an indication I was husband material. Maybe she’s right. Plus, she was fucking a guy on the side. I found that out later. Just like what happened with Hudson and Foxx.”
“That’s why you’re the three musketeers.”
I laughed. “Yeah, we drowned our sorrows together.”
When she pulled one arm from the wall, tracing the lines of the tattoo the three of us had gotten together, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“A red rose with a dagger cut through the center. You don’t believe in romance. You’re cutting it out of your life. Or is that just all about not believing in love?”
Her question caught me off guard. “Maybe both. Love seems to be highly overrated. It seems when people get bored they move on.”
“Not true. Maybe you don’t know what true love is.”
“Tell me, my little Irish girl. I’m curious.”
She lifted her head, her green eyes reminding me of grass on a spring day. So fresh and alive. “It’s when your heart can’t stop beating rapidly when the man you love walks in through the door. It’s when you can laugh together about anything, even if life tosses you darkness. It’s just being together watching a movie or drinking wine on a beautiful summer evening. It’s knowing what the other is thinking or needing before they do. And it’s the comfort you get when you’re in their arms. It’s truly beautiful.”
“That sounds nice. I just don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”
“Have you ever stopped to think you just need to find the right girl?”
“Careful, sunshine. I’m not a good guy according to a lot of people.”
She pressed her hand on my chest, rising onto her tiptoes. “They’re wrong. You’re… perfect.”
Dear God, I wanted this woman.
The spark in her eyes as well as the way she dragged just the tip of her tongue across her lower lip was far too tempting. Damn the woman for being so hot. As I’d experienced a few hours before, I couldn’t seem to help myself or find any control around the lovely lady. I took my time lowering my head, capturing her mouth.
There was nothing quite like the way she tasted or felt in my arms. When she placed her hand on my chest, I slid one hand down the length of her arm before allowing my fingertips to brush across her breast.
I adored everything about her, including the way she moaned into the kiss. My cock was already aching once again, the need to fuck her and fill her with my seed Neanderthal at best, but I wanted my seed to trump that of my buddies, especially since we’d changed positions for round two and three.
As childish as that sounded.
I was about ready to strip off her jeans when a slight popping sound caught my attention, forcing me to pull away from the kiss.
“Shit,” I muttered, my instinct kicking in. We were in some serious trouble.
Pop! Pop!
We both looked toward the door leading to the deck.
“What was that?” she asked, gripping my arm, her long fingers digging into my skin.
“You need to listen to me, my little Irish girl. Stay the fuck here. Okay? Do you hear me?” I’d been around the block more times than I could count. I’d also been trained by my father to shoot my share of weapons. And what I’d heard had been gunshots.
What the fuck?
“But what’s happening? This is my responsibility.”
“Not right now. Let me do what we were hired to do. There’s a storm out there. Maybe that’s all it is. But you need to trust me more now than ever. Do you hear me, Rylee? Stay right here.”
